As part of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, Donald Norcross, NJ State Senator and Democratic candidate for US Congress, has a very large container of ice and water dumped on his head by the family of Tom MacAdam, who died of ALS, outside his Cherry Hill campaign headquarters Aug. 15, 2014.
AP

Bill Steele of Florida reacts as his son Doug Steele pours ice cold water on him, also known as the Ice Bucket Challenge, in front of Horizons Conference Center, in Saginaw Township, Mich., Friday, Aug. 15, 2014. In honor of his son Andy, Bill Steele performed the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS.
AP

About 20 Warren CAT employees laugh as roughly 2,500 gallons of city water from their wash bay was dropped on them from three Cat Wheel Loaders as they participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge for the Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) Association Friday at the Warren CAT rental location in Odessa. According to Jillian Lellis, the strategic business information analyst at Warren Cat, she organized the event Friday morning and gathered enough employees willing to participate. Lellis also said that the president of the company Jim Nelson stated that the company will donate money in addition to completing the challenge. The amount of money has not been determined yet due to the event taking place last minute.
AP

Dale Earnhardt Jr. smiles while taking the ice bucket challenge after practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., Friday, Aug. 15, 2014. The challenge, in which participants get a bucket of water and ice cubes dumped on their heads, raises money to fight ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.
AP

Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein has ice water poured on him during the Ice Bucket Challenge to bring awareness to ALS after a baseball game between the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014.
AP

Cleveland Browns cornerback Justin Gilbert reacts after getting ice dumped on him following practice at NFL football training camp in Berea, Ohio Friday, Aug. 15, 2014. The Browns were challenged by the Baltimore Ravens to take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, to raise awareness about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
AP

Boston City Councillor Tito Jackson, center in suit, leads some 200 people in the ice bucket challenge at Boston's Copley Square, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014 to raise funds and awareness for ALS. The idea is easy: Take a bucket of ice water, dump it over your head, video it and post it on social media. Then challenge your friends, strangers, even celebrities to do the same within 24 hours or pay up for charity.
AP

Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien dunks ice water over his head after an NFL football training camp practice Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014, in Houston. O'Brien was challenged by a reporter to take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to raise money for the ALS Association. The challenge, a social media phenomenon, is part of a program launched by the ALS Association to raise money for fighting ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Participants challenge others on video to do it or donate money to ALS before dumping ice cold water over their heads.
AP

Beryl Lipton, left, douses Matt Lee during the ice bucket challenge at Boston's Copley Square, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014 to raise funds and awareness for ALS. The idea is: pay up for charity or get doused. The fund-raising phenomenon is catching on fast, propelled by popular videos of the dunkers and the dunked _ including famous athletes and entertainers _ posted on social media sites. And the challenges are raising tens of thousands of dollars and immeasurable awareness for causes from ALS to breast cancer to a camp for kids who’ve lost a father to war.
AP

Houston Astros starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel is doused with ice water as part of the ALS ice bucket challenge, a fund raiser for Lou Gehrig's disease, before a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014, in Houston.
AP

Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien, center, Chief Operating Officer Cal McNair, right, and Houston Chronicle reporter Brian Smith, left, pour ice cold water over their head after an NFL football training camp practice Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014, in Houston. The three were challenged to take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to raise money for the ALS Association. The challenge, a social media phenomenon, is part of a program launched by the ALS Association to raise money for fighting ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Participants challenge others on video to do it or donate money to ALS before dumping ice cold water over their heads.
AP

In this Aug. 13, 2014, photo, New York Jets quarterback Michael Vick (1) runs from a large spray of water as players and coaches celebrated the final day of NFL football training camp in Cortland, N.Y. The Jets got soaked for a good cause. The team accepted the New England Patriots' Ice Bucket Challenge to their AFC East rivals and ended its last public practice at SUNY Cortland by getting doused _ with help from the Cortlandville Fire Department.
AP

Allison Risaliti, 17, of Ebensburg, Pa., reacts to taking the ice bucket challenge, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014, at the Ebensburg, Pa., community pool. The challenge, in which participants get a bucket of water and ice cubes dumped on their heads, raises money to fight ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.
AP

Seattle Seahawks players Russell Wilson, right, and Zach Mille dump ice water on their head coach Pete Carroll at the end of training camp at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014, in Renton, Wash. They did it as part of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
AP/Seattle Times

Vermont Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, second from left, and Gov. Peter Shumlin, second from right, take the "ice bucket challenge" at the Vermont Statehouse Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014, in Montpelier, Vt. They were doused by Montpelier Mayor John Hollar, left, Barre Mayor Thom Lauzon, right, and a team of dousers working from a crane above. The challenge is aimed at raising funds to fight ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
AP

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid gets a bucket of ice water dumped on him by Chase Daniel and Jamaal Charles for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge following NFL football practice Thursday morning Aug. 14, 2014, on the Missouri Western State University campus in St. Joseph. Mo.
AP

As part of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, Donald Norcross, NJ State Senator and Democratic candidate for US Congress, has a very large container of ice and water dumped on his head by the family of Tom MacAdam, who died of ALS, outside his Cherry Hill campaign headquarters Aug. 15, 2014.
AP

*ICE BUCKET UPDATE* -- Jim Harbaugh said he will accept the ice-bucket challenge. But not Pete Carroll’s challenge.

“Got another challenge with him,” Harbaugh said. Which one? “I think you know what that one is -- the big one,” he said.

Instead, Harbaugh said his brother, John Harbaugh, had extended him a challenge that predated Carroll’s. “As usual, late to the Internet party on that – Twitter, Instagram, etc. I always seem to be behind, not on the cutting edge or cusp of those things.”

Harbaugh will be doused before today’s 5 p.m. practice. He challenged the team’s beatwriters -- as well as Barack Obama and George W. Bush -- to take part. This beatwriter will decline and instead make a donation to the ALS Association.

SANTA CLARA -- It's not exactly Aaron Burr v. Alexander Hamilton, but a challenge has been issued. Specifically: Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has challenged rival Jim Harbaugh to have a bucket of ice water dumped on Harbaugh's head.

No, no, no, it’s not more Seahawk-49ers animus. It's for a good cause – benefiting ALS patients and ALS research. According to the the ALS Association, which recently has seen a huge influx of donations, the origin of the challenge is a bit fuzzy. Apparently it started with a family of an ALS patient and began spreading from there. It really took off when it reached Peter Frates, a 29-year-old former Boston College baseball captain who was diagnosed with ALS in 2012.

Since Frates took the challenge last month, everyone from Martha Stewart to Mark Zuckerberg to Peyton Manning has been dumping a bucket of ice water over their head and then challenging three other people to do the same. Anyone who declines is expected to make a donation – usually $100 – toward fighting ALS. Most of the people who take the challenge end up donating anyway, which is why the ALS Association has received a massive boost in the last two weeks.

Since July 29, the association has received $9.5 million in donations compared to $1.6 million during the same time period last year. The donations were from existing donors and 184,812 new donors.

Spokesman Greg Cash noted that Carnival Cruises recently pledged $100,000 in donations. Oprah Winfrey tweeted that she would take the plunge when she returned from traveling. Donations to the ALS Association can be made at www.ALSA.org/donate.

Carroll took the so-called ALS Ice-Bucket Challenge earlier this week with help from quarterback Russell Wilson and tight end Zach Miller and, as per the rules, challenged three others to do the same. In his case, he called on the other NFC West coaches.

Arizona's Bruce Arians has done it. So has St. Louis' Jeff Fisher. Harbaugh? We're still waiting on his decision.

From the ALSA: Also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is a progressive neuro-degenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Eventually people with ALS lose the ability to initiate and control muscle movement, which often leads to total paralysis and death within two to five years of diagnosis. There is no cure and only one drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that modestly extends survival.

About This Blog

Matt Barrows was born in Blacksburg, Va., and attended the University of Virginia. He graduated in 1995, went to Northwestern for a journalism degree a year later, and got his first job at a South Carolina daily in 1997. He joined The Sacramento Bee as a Metro reporter in 1999 and started covering the San Francisco 49ers in 2003. His favorite player of all time is Darrell Green. Reach Barrows at mbarrows@sacbee.com.
Twitter: @mattbarrows